Scarborough has had a long running tradtion on Shrove Tuesday which has been running at least since 1903. It has been thought that local fisherman who were getting rid of the ropes and nets not fit for fishing to children who would then use the ropes to skip.

Since at least 1853 a person has run a bell at noon on Shrove Tuesday, which is though to signal to people they should begin pancake making when the tradition began. Nowadays it is run to tell people to start skipping. The area used for skipping is closed (foreshore) for traffic for the event these days.